


An MDC Original

by Starpony999



Series: Lila Take Downs [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Lila salt, Lila takedown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25928179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starpony999/pseuds/Starpony999
Summary: Summary/Prompt by @MiraculouslyOverrated on TumblrMarinette creates a website for designs under the name MDC and gets a shoutout from people like Jagged Stone and Clara NightingaleHer designs become popular amongst celebrities (with only a few people being able to get designs because Marinette really only has so much time with everything going on) and she’s known as an exclusive high ticket designer but MDC doesn’t really become that well known in her class until Ladybug is seen wearing a new outfit designed by MDC and gives her a shout-outCue Lila lying about knowing MDC and introducing Ladybug to the exclusive designer
Series: Lila Take Downs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881781
Comments: 1
Kudos: 228
Collections: Miraculous Stories





	An MDC Original

"Oh yeah, MDC and I go way back.” Lila bragged. It had taken her 2 whole months to get a hold of a MDC design after she had seen Clara Nightingale wear one on the red carpet. The casual dress was an amazing combination of red, black, and green, showing off her eyes and hair without making her look like a Christmas tree. She knew the day would come when the dress would help with her school fame. When Ladybug showed up to a formal event in-mask but out of uniform and in an MDC original, she knew the day had come.

“You see, she made this dress for me!” Lila have it a twirl to show it off to the class. “It was a gift for helping her make it big. I tried to pay for it, but she insisted.” She feigned a blush. “She’s sooo generous. A few days later she showed me this design idea she had and I knew I it was perfect for Ladybug, so I introduced the two of them.” Lila smiled wide. “I’d do anything for my friends.”

The girls in the class oohed and aahed, giving Lila a few complements as she returned to her seat. A few guys nodded their agreement, although most of them didn’t care much about fashion.

Marinette growled in her seat but said nothing. She was too tired to deal with Lila’s nonsense this morning. She had stayed up late last night on an order for Audrey Burgious. Alya passed her friend a cup. Marinette looked up at the cup and hummed questionably. Yes, she was too tired for any words at this point.

Alya smirked. “It’s coffee. A little pick me up.” When the noirette wrinkled her nose, Alya chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s as dark as your soul: mostly sugar and cream.”

Marinette smiled at her BFF and took a sip. “Thanks, Alya.” She sent a side eye at Lila, who was still going on about Ladybug and MDC. As if they were actually two different people!

Alya noticed the look and gave her friend a comforting rub on the shoulder. “You know, I’m starting to understand why your not a fan of Lila.”

Marinette snapped her head back towards Alya. “Really?!”

“Well, yeah. We both know for a fact that Lila and MDC are NOT besties, let alone friends.”

Marinette last eyes grew wide as she remembered what had happened a few nights prior. She was on a video call with Alya while she had been making the red dress and mask. She had complained about how the fabric may as well have been stained red from her blood from how many times she had picked her finger. Alya had laughed at her joke, before asking what the project was for.

“Yes girl, I put two and two together.” Alya smiled sheepishly. “I may be not be the best at tracking down evidence, but I am crazy good at crafting conspiracy theories.” She laughed. “I’m just surprised ‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng is secretly a world-famous fashion designer, specifically MDC’ is actually true.”

Marinette practically leaped to give her friend a huge hug.

Alya laughed as she pushed the girl off of her. “I love you to, ‘Nette. But now, I think that it’s time we expose her to the whole class.”

* * *

Marinette has to admit it. When Alya had a plan, it could get kinda scary. That knowing glint in her eyes. The steady smirk across her face as if she knew exactly how everything would pan out. Although, 9 times out of 10 (when Adrientte wasn’t the end goal), she knew exactly what would happen.

The next day, Alya came to class wearing her own MDC. Thankfully, Marinette had already been working on a set for her best friend, so they didn’t have to wait for her to make a new one. She wore her usual red plaid, but it was underneath an overall dress. She paired it with a white shruncie to hold her ponytail high, and some cute white sneakers to match.

Alya came into the room and, as soon as she saw Marinette, squealed. “MARINETTE! You’ll never believe what just came in the mail!” The brunette did a twirl in her dress, which caught most of the class’s eye.

“It looks perfect on you!” Lila interjected morning giving Marinette any room to speak. She had been learning over one of the desks, taking advantage of Chloe’s absence to talk to Sabrina. She then took the opportunity to approach Alya and admire the dress. “It’s an MDC, isn’t it?”

Alya told Marinette later that she had wanted to balch at Lila’s ‘sweetness.’ It was like “being forced to eat a marshmallow covered in sugar flakes and drenched in syrup,” which Marinette could see as being less than ideal. Although it had given her an idea for a new recipie.

Alya grinned, “Girl you know it!”

“I’d recognized that stitching anywhere. The fashionista really is one of a kind.”

Marinette had to hold back a snort. If Lila could really recognize the stitching, she would’ve figured out her mistake by now.

“Lila, you have to show me your locket!”

“My-my locket?”

“Yeah, you know the one that comes with every MDC?” Alya faked a confused, puppy dog look. “I mean, if you’re her best friend, you definitely would’ve gotten one. And I bet yours must be incredibly detailed!”

“O-oh, of course!” Lila hid her stammer pretty well. “I didn’t bring it though,” she began to transition to a shy, meek, or even humble sort of disposition. “I didn’t want to brag or sound better than you guys or anything, she really outdid herself.”

“Oh Lila,” Ross cooed from her seat. “Ever our humble everyday Ladybug.”

Marinette swore she saw Lila glare at her, but it was hard to tell when her head decided now would be a good time to introduce itself to her sketchbook.

Alya grimmamced, but quickly turned cheerful. She had to play her part for this to work. “So you’ll bring it tomorrow then?”

Lila smiled a little too wide. “Of course!”

It was then that Bustiear walked into the classroom. As Alya landed in her seat she gave her BFF’s hand a squeeze. “Phase One complete.” She whispered, her smirk wide and eyes glinting in the sunlight. “Now it’s your turn for Phase Two.”

* * *

Over the next few days, everyone else in the class received a smal gift in the mail. Max got a new bow tie. Rose got a frilly pink skirt. Mylene received a hoodie. And each and every gift came with a specialized locket.

At first, most of the class was convinced that Lila had convinced this designer to make them all something. They thanked her and praised her for being so thoughtful and generous. Lila made no effort to correct them.

But with each gift and locket, the question of Lila’s locket was brought up again.

“Oh, I’m so sorry guys. I was running late this morning and wasn’t able to bring it.” Was the first excuse.

Juleka recieved fishnet gloves. Ivan recieved a T-Shirt with a flowery skull n’ cross bones. (Mylene thought it was the cutest thing). Kim recieved a pair of running shoes. And his locket was freaking waterproof. Lila didn’t know MDC even did that.

The second excuse was “I found it last night but the chain broke and my mom insisted she bring it to the jewelers to get fixed.”

Nathaniel got a jacket with one of his comic characters embroidered on the back. Alix recieved a blue and white athletic wear combo. Nino got a hat, a bracelet, and a sticker for his headphones, all with his very own DJ logo.

The third excuse was like the second: “Apparently it’s still in the shop, I’m sorry. My mom didn’t even tell me which one she went to.”

Then it was the weekend. Alya stayed the night at Marinette’s house as she designed the final three designs. Something for Chloe, something for Sabrina, and, the real stinger, something for Marinette. Everyone knew how much Lila hated Marinette. They would surely question her kindness. And even if they didn’t, they would question why Sabrina and Chloe got something. And the fact that Adrien got nothing, well….if they really didn’t realize after that, they really weren’t worth winning over.

Marinette’s phone dinged. One look at it, and Marinette was back in a fit of laughter. Alya scooped up her friend’s phone, and promptly joined the giggles.

“I told you. Lila is running in circles.” Alya playfully shoved Marinette’s shoulder. “She’s desperate at this point.”

“I mean, her being late?” Marinette added. “As if! I know she gets there early just to taunt me most days.”

Ayla’s laughter died down. “I still can’t believe she did that.”

Marinette gave a soft smile.

“Threaten you, I mean. She taunts and threatens and frames you so often!” Alya gave her friend a big hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

“I’m just glad you’re on my side now.” Marinette replied, returning the hug.

“And I promise I’ll do more fact checking next time.” Alya hummed. “I’m leaving Lila’s interview on Ladybug on the Ladyblog though.”

Marinette spinned in her chair and pushed Alta away. “What?!”

“Relax girl! It’s to help out Lila later. You know,” she waggled her eyebrows, “ I have an in with a certain superhero. I could ask him to get me an interview with Ladybug herself.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Yeah, and I’m sure once Ladybug hears about this no-good liar claiming to be her best friend, she’ll want to set the record straight.”

Marinette smiled. This was truly the happiest she’d been in a while. Maybe she’d even make Chat something later. He had been begging her as Ladybug about this MDC.

* * *

Monday came around and the class was a buzz. Lila was missing, which was odd. Everyone had noticed when Chloe and Sabrina has walked in in brand new outfits. There was a very obvious MDC logo on them. Why would Lila convince MDC to make clothes for the class bully?

“Chloé is rich though” Kim piped up.

This was true. It probably was just because she didn’t want to be outshone.

But when Marinette and Adrien walked into the class together, there’s might as well have been a collective gasp.

“—even if I got MDC, which I haven’t.” Adrien was saying. “But I am so glad you can wear it! It looks fabulous on you!”

The murmurs started again as the two arrivals made way to their seats. Marinette was wearing MDC? There’s no way! Marinette did not have the money to afford the designer, and there was no way Lila would get it for her.

Chloe got up from her seat seconds after the two sat down. Loudly she said, “Thank you SOOO much Marinette! MDC is officially my favorite brand.” She looked over at Adrien. “Sorry Agreste.”

“Hey, it’s not my fashion label.” Adrien shrugged. “No offense taken.”

Marinette got Chloe AND Sabrina’s outfits? None of this made any sense. Lila could straighten it all out. They just had to ask her. Wait a second. Where WAS Lila? Had anyone heard from her recently?

“You know, she never did show us that locket.” Mylene piped up.

“Yeah, she kept making excuses.” Kim added.

“Do you think….she’s avoiding us?” Rose asked. “Did we pressure her too much?”

Nathaniel shook his head. “Did none of you notice how she was surprised to hear about the locket at first?”

Max nodded. “That’s right, she was surprised. And according to my calculations she’s never been late to class before. Always early. Don’t you think it’s odd that she said she was running late last week, but still managed to get in the home room 7.3 minutes before class started without looking frazzled or out of breath?”

And just like that, most of the class began voicing their concerns about things Lila had said.

Marinette couldn’t help but smirk. She didn’t need to stoop down to Lila’s level. Nothing that had been said was a lie. Even the specialized lockets had been true. They had been little thank yous to everyone. It just hadn’t been publicized. She had recognized Lila’s name in the first commission and decided against giving her one. Especially since a Lila-personalized locket would basically be just a bunch of golden dust.

Alya gave her friend a nudge, smiling deviously. “It’s all coming together, Marinette.”

“Remind me again,” Marinette turned her attention back towards her friend. “When does the reveal that I’m MDC come out?”

“Oh girl, you’re not getting that out of me.” Alya winked. “It’s a surprise!”

“It was worth a shot. How did you end up convincing Adrien to play along with us? He was so adamant about doing nothing—taking the high road.”

“I just convinced him this was still the high road, we’re just picking up the pace a little.” Alya smirked.

Marinette tolled her eyes and sighed. “You’re impossible sometimes, you know that right?”

“You’re the one who chooses to deal with me.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Gave her bestie a hug as Bustier walked to the front of the class.

* * *

Apparently, Lila’s mom had called her in sick that day. She was back by Wednesday, but the atmosphere around her had drastically changed. No longer was anyone hanging on her every word. No longer was there a large crowd gathered around her whenever she spoke. No longer did Lila steal the spotlight whenever someone else was talking. It almost felt….

Normal.

Lila began to feel like just another classmate. By the next Tuesday, Marinette had started including Lila in things. She got a special cupcake on Rose’s Birthday. She went with them to a local cafe for lunch on Thursday She was invited to join the group for a sleepover on Saturday. Despite this, Lila stayed quiet as a mouse.

Alya hadn’t quite understood why Marinette made such a change. She could still tell the noirette was uncomfortable around Lila, but now that Lila has backed off, Mari was actively making an effort to be nice to her.

Adrien has been enthusiastic about the change in both Lila and Marinette. Alya swore she even saw him blush when he was around Marinette now. Adrientte was a ship waiting to set sail. But yet, Alya was worried.

She was worried that Lila had something dubious up her sleeve. Which was why she poured her heart and soul into her project. The whole thing took about three to four weeks to set up, but the end result was worth it. She made sure everyone in the class would show up, and that the entire school was invited. Even the teachers and Principal Damocles was invited. She even made a post about it on one of her blogs, and then invited Ladybug and Chat Noir to come through the Ladyblog. (She doubted they would see it. Especially after her article about Lila being Ladybug’s friend, there wasn’t really a reason why they would trust her news site.) She had even sold high-price tickets online, getting Clara Nightingale, Jagged Stone, Audrey Bourgeois, and other famous people to come. She then used that money to pay for the auditorium, security, and a crew.

When the day rolled around, Alya was practically bouncing with excitement. Marinette raised her eyebrow at her friend. “I know it’s Friday, but you’re not usually this excited for the weekend. What’s up?”

Alya beamed at her best friend, “You and I are going out tonight.”

Marinette chuckled. “Are you asking me on a date? I don’t think Nino would be okay with that.”

“…wat?” Alya gawked. A moment later it clicked. “No! Silly. It’s girls night. I already cleared it with your parents. And I know you’ve finished all your commissions this week, and that you don’t have any pressing school assignments, especially since it’s the weekend. So you have no excuses not to come with me.”

“Okay, okay.” Marinette laughed. “Well I can’t wait to see what you have in store for tonight, since you’re obviously not telling me.”

Alya smiled. She hadn’t seen Marinette this happy and ready to take on whatever the world threw at her in so long. A slight frown tugged on her lip. She wished she had realized what was all happening sooner instead of getting wrapped up in the fairytales and lies. She wiped any suggestion of a frown from her face with a resolute smile. She was going to make it all up to Marinette. Even if the fashion designer insisted that everything was okay between them, Alya was going to make up for her mistakes.

—–

Marinette laughed as Alya dragged her along through the streets. Sure, being Ladybug was fun–swinging through the rooftops, having the wind in her hair–but nothing compared to the thrill of being dragged all over Paris by her best friend for a whirlwind of surprises. As Alya came to a stop in front of a large building, Marinette used her momentum to sweep her friend into a large hug. 

“Thanks for the amazing night, Alya.” 

The brunette returned the hug. “It’s not over yet, we’ve got one more stop.”

Marinette raised her eyes to the building, recognizing it from Gabriel’s fashion show. “The Grand Palais?!”

“Yeah! They’re hosting a big fashion show tonight, and I know you of all people would love to see it.”

“You got tickets? That must be expensive! How much was it? Here, I’ll pay half of it.” Marinette started rummaging through her purse for some spare cash.

“Gi-irl! Don’t sweat it. It’s my treat, really, come on! It starts soon! We have to get to our seats!”

Marinette was pulled into the building, past a bouncer (who didn’t even ask for tickets, he just nodded them through), into the auditorium, and to a front row seat.

Moments later the lights went down and a spotlight shone on the back curtain where a man was standing. Was that….Was that HER DAD?

Tom Dupain-Cheng was dressed in a fitting tuxedo and was holding a microphone. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to invite you all this special event. Tonight we will see designs from the latest and the greatest fashion designer to grace the fashion stage. Let’s give a round of applause to MDC, and her Winter collection!”

Marinette yelped. “What did you do that for?” She growled at Alya.

“I’m proving to you that you’re not dreaming. Plus you spaced out. Look! There’s Juleka in the fishnets you made her.”

* * *

Marinette’s arm was still sore from Alya’s pinch at the beginning of the night. But she didn’t really care. She saw several of her friends walking down the catwalk, and several models—all of which were modeling her clothes. As they neared the end of the show, Marinette saw a familiar face grace the stage. “…Bunnix?”

Alya leaned over, grinning. “Yeah! Apparently she is a superhero from the future! She showed up one day and said that Ladybug and Chat Noir really wanted to help today, but was too busy, so she used Bunnix’s power to show up with some other heroes!”

Marinette gaped. Her future self was in on this?

Viperion came out next, followed by Pegasus and Roi Singe. When Rena Roughe came out, Alya tugged on Marinette’s sleeve. “Come on! There’s another surprise!.”

Marinette was still in shock from Alya’s last revelatio that she didn’t protest. What happened next was honestly a blur. She was lead backstage and into a dressing room. She vaguely remebered putting on a cute dress before being rushed into makeup. Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the catwalk as she was ushered behind the curtain.

“And now, I would like to introduce the creator of this collection, someone I admire and even consider a friend, MDC, aka, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette walked down the catwalk in a daze. She managed to head towards Ladybug, but the room full of applause caused her to forget how she had gotten to there in the first place. Once she was beside the pair of heroes, Ladybug leaned over and whispered in Marinette’s ear. “Remember, they are here for you. They think you are awesome. Give them what they want to hear and what you want to say.” She and Chat gave her a polite hug of reassurance before handing her the mic.

The duo stepped back and a spotlight shone on Marinette. Her nerves caused her to shake, but she saw Alya back in the front row, giving her two thumbs up and a huge smile. Marinette smiled back, gaining the confidence she needed. She took a deep breath and faced the crowd. 

“I want to thank all of you for coming out to my offical debut. To be honest, this was a complete surprise to me.” The audience laughed good naturedly, and Marinette chuckled a little herself. “I know. Who isn’t involved in their own debut? Well, recently at school I had been dealing with a bully, She was really good at telling stories, that people began to believe the tales she spun. I tried to point out that they weren’t true, but most of my classmates disregarded it, believing that I was acting out of jealousy. Eventually, I stopped bringing it up, but not before the storyteller turned on me. She began to tell lies about me to the class, and they believed her. I thought I had lost my friends. Until about a month ago, my best friend, Alya, noticed that the bully wasn’t telling the truth.” Marinette took a moment to gesture and smile at her BFF. “This girl claimed she was best friends with MDC and Ladybug, having introduced the two.” Some people in the audience laughed, catching where the story was going. “I know, it was a crazy thing to claim, especially since MDC was sitting right there in the classroom, and she clearly was not even on speaking terms with her.” The whole audience laughed at that, although Marinette merely smiled. “Alya had seen me working on that exact design that the bully was wearing, as well as many others. She knew I was the elusive MDC, and that this girl in our class was not speaking the truth. Apparently, that day, my BFF decided she would make it up to me. Together we started gifting MDC originals to my whole class. At first, the bully took the credit for it, but when they all noticed they had gotten a locket and she hadn’t, they had begun to suspect something was off. Slowly, things started getting back to normal, I was friends with most of my class again. But Alya wasn’t done with her mission yet. She planned this event for weeks behind my back. She told me we were going to prove to the class, and the world, that I was MDC, but she hadn’t yet told me how. I guess this is it.” The audience laughed again. “I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for coming out here tonight. It means the world to me to know I have so many supporters, both famous ones, superhero ones, and seemingly average ones. You all are the reason I design, and will continue to design. I wish you all the very best.” With that, Marinette walked back down the catwalk to a large round of applause. This time, she walked with confidence and pride. 

She was MDC. 

She was Ladybug. 

She was Marinette. 

An MDC Original.


End file.
